Yoskay Yamamoto’s artwork has always expressed a charming and nostalgic feel. His sense of nostalgia as a Japanese artist living and working in Los Angeles is unique. His latest exhibition, “House of Daydreamers”, which opened Saturday at Giant Robot’s GR2, defines the physical and emotional meaning of the word “home”. For some, home can be many things. It can be as broad as the place where you grew up, a dollhouse of imaginary characters, or even the planet Earth. Yamamoto’s new paintings, drawings, and basswood figurines created over the past year explore all of these possibilities.
His cool-hued paintings of children peering through starry oceans and galaxies of floating houses describe the sweetness of home. The moon waxes and wanes from painting to painting, leading us to a dollhouse-like installation. It is accessorized with original and pop iconic characters, recalling Yamamoto’s 2012 installation “One thing that we still share…” (featured here). If the gallery is his “House of Daydreamers”, then this might be what we’d see looking out its window. Looking over it are sleepy rain drops falling towards a field of wooden flowers, each individually carved with a whimsical expression. On the opposite wall is Yamamoto’s “My Little Universe” portrait series of tiny planets and sculptures of them. For Yamamoto, it seems that home lies somewhere in his dreams, between memory and fantasy.
“House of Daydreamers” by Yoskay Yamamoto exhibits at Giant Robot from May 17th to June 14th, 2014.
